Process of coking coal



July zo, 1926.A

1,593,208 H. H. CULMER y PROCESS OF COKING COAL Filed Jan. 19, 1920sheets-sheet 1 Zij-Z.

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1,593,208 H. H. cULMER PROCESS OF COKING COAL July 20 1926.

Filed Jan. 19. 1920 2 Sheets-Sme?I 2 Patented July 2o, 192e.

HARRY H. CULMER, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PROCESS COKING COAL.

Application l'ed January 19, 1920.v Serial No. 352,309.

My invention relates to improvements in the process of coking coalandrefers more particularly to a process in which the coal chargein thecoking oven is vented to allow the heat of the oven to permeate Vmorequickly into the body of the eoal at the\same time allowing a freecirculationand escape of the tarsl and gaseous vapors produced, alsoreducing the time necessary for the completion of the process ascompared with former processes and producing a more uniform product.

Among its salient objects arey to provide a process in which the coalchar ein the coking oven is vented longitudinally, later ally or in bothdirections to permit' the o ven heat to reach the body of the coalmore-v quickly-toV provide a means of ventingtflie coal charge so thatthe venting meansl will not interfere with the removable coke after thecompletion of the process; to provide a process in which the. ytar andgases driven off from the coal charge by the heat are allowed to escapethrough the vents inthe coal, obviating the difficulties encounteredwith an almost impervious zone of tar andA pitch. l

Other objects of the present invention are to provide a process in whichthe moisture, tar and gaseous vapors are permitted free egress at alltimes duringy the coking of the coalso as not to disturb @the bond f thecoke at the time it is melting and setting together and preventingbubbles being blown,'inthe plastic zone, causing porous coke; 'toprovide a substance which is cheap and of such a nature that iteifectually keeps open the ducts during the coking process in thepresence of the high degree 0f heat to which it is subjected; to providea process in which the coal is put into the furnace or oven in aplurality of combustible or carbonizable containers so that when theoven heat has reduced 'the container Wall, there will remain a numberof, vents or ducts through the coal which permit the, heat to penetratequickly to the body of the coal; at the same time coking the coal intocoke cubes substantially the size of the containers, thereby supplying aconvenient sizel product and one that is very uniform in texture.

I have found that, in any type of oven or retort, there is produced inthe coal charge a semi-solid mass ,durin thev period in which the oilsand tars are liberated and charge.

wall. This sealing of the voids between the f particles of coal does notallow the oils and gases to escape from the coking zone and causes 'thegaseous lheating vapors-to be This plastic Zone gradually backs awayfrom the y he'at at -the same time effectually sealing the drawny back`through the hot coke.

heat fromfcoming in contact with the fresh coal. The heat expended inthis plastic Wall retards the heat from attacking the fresh coal chargeand accounts for the time neces'4 sary to.. complete the coking of theentire Due to I`this zone of tar, intense heating has to be resorted toin order to coke thefresh coalbehind the plastic zone or Wall. y

Occasionally steam, light'oils .and gases driven offin the heatingof thecoal will burst this plastic wall and cause the foamy or hone combstructures therein. If these gases could escape without causing pressureagainst the incoming heat and proper means were provided for carryingloff' the oil, tar

and gaseous vapors as they are formed, a stronger, firmer and -f morecompact coke would result.

By arranging vents in the coal charge at intervals,- the pressure causedby the steam and gaseous vapors confined in the untreated coal is-allowed to escape and the heat of the furnace permitted to penetratequickly to the body-of the coal. The pressure produced in the untreatedcoal is caused by steam and gaseous vapors` which the heat A drives oiffrom the coal while the tar zone is'being formed. In this tar zone orplastlc Wall, the voids are cemented with tar and *other forms of heavyhydrocarbons and these must be driven out by the heat and bubbles of gasand vapor passin through the plastic zone. It is this condltlon that 1sthe main cause of*l spongy -coke being formed. lDucts or vents of somenature are necessary Whether the gases are taken from the body of thefresh lcoal or caused to escape back through the het coke zone and byproviding constant means of egress-for the moisture, oil and tar vapors,uickacess isk given the heat to the untreateA coaL,

fective method of accomplishing the desired.'v

result, and one vwhich obviates the objections of cleaning", refittingand replacing i tubes and ducts after eachcoking run.

AIn the drawings Fig. 1 is a planview of the stray;7 mat before foldingto fori'n a container. f

Fig. 2 is an edge view ofx themat shown in Fig.' 1.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the mat shown .i

y Fig. 1, folded to form a container where a n band is used for holdingthe upturned edges in place.

Fig. 4 is a top view of container shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a side view of container where a staple is used .for holdingthe upturned edges in place.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a block of stacked containers with coaltherein.

Fig 7 is a side view of coke oven with parts broken away,showingposition of vent mats and core. Fig. 8 isa lan view of cover foroven` shown in Fig.

Fig. 9 is a plan view or horizontal ve-nt mat shown in Fig. 7.

10 is a plan viewof retort shown in Referring to the drawings, 1designates a mat made of straw or other combustible substance heldtogether by stitching shown at 2. The slots 3 are cut into the edges ofthe mat and together with the folding of the mat along the lines 4,provide a means of upturning the edges to form square containers,considered as a whole at 8, and shown in the succeeding Figures 3, 4, 5and 6. To hold these upturned edges in place, bands 5 of fabric, vpaperor like material -are'placed around the perimeter of the container.Staples 6 may be used instead of the bands to hold the upturned portionsin place. These contai-nersY are lled with ground coking coal and arestacked into a coking furnace or oven of any common type (not shown).

It may be necessary to alter the shape of the container to better fitthe interior of Y. the oven, but I have chosen vto show a\ fas ousvapors yand ditlculty has constantly arisen in freeing the coal body ofthese oils.

`tars and vapors without producing an uneven texture in the coke. Alsoin coking, the coal will form a plastic Wall in front of the heatingzone, which retards to a great extent the action of the heat upon the-untreated coal. To remedy this, I put the ground coal in a combustiblecontainer and stack the containers in the manner shown in Fig. 6 in theoven. When the heat of the oven begins to melt the coal, the gaseousvapors given oif will seek the container Walls, which will act as ductsor vents and will readily pass off as vapor. In this way I do away withthe forming of a plastic wall and cause the heating gases to penetratequickly to the body of the coal. Also due to? the open vented portionsproduced by the container walls, the coke produced is of a very netexture.

As the container walls are carbonized by the heating gases they tend todivide the coal body into blocks substantially the size ofthecontainers. This aids materially in the removing of the cokeffrom theoven in that the blocks Will come out in separate units and may bestacked conveniently in bins or in waiting cars. y

In Fig. 7 I show a form'of oven which consists of a cylindrical retort 9constructed of silica clay or like material, being provided withtwocover ortions 10 and 11, which are held in place by clamps 12 and 13respectively. Clamping screws 14 secure the clamps and covers to fiangesupon the cylindrical retort. A hole 15 in either end of the coverportions provides means for inserting the vent core 16 andare` tappedvto receive pipes 17 which lead to a condenser core therethrough. Thisretort is mounted in a fire box, the walls of which are frag# mentarilyshown at 20. The heating gases in the iire box reduce the coal in theretort, the heat penetrating vfrom the outer surface of the retorttoward the center core. The vapors and gas produced in the coal escapethrough the horizontal mats which extend to the inner surface of theretort. As the heat penetrates into thel coal body, the gases and vaporswhich produce a semisolid or plastic wall, work inwardly from thesurface of the retort toward the combustible core.

It will be noted .that the oils and vapors which combine to form thisplastic wall do not produce an impenetrable mass, as the mats 18 furnishan outlet at all times for the generated vapors. As the heat works`vents inward, the coal at the outer part of the retort is coked and themats are consumed or reduced. At all events they serve as a separatingwall between the respective sections of thelcoal body. When the heatinggases have finally consumed the central core and the coal body has beenreduced to coke of a uniform texture, the covers ofthe retort may betaken'off and the coke removed. During the coking process, the vaporous'by-products pass ofi' through pipe 17 to any suitable condenser wherethey arecollected.

I claim as my invention 1. A process for coking coal, comprising`charging a cokingoven wlth discrete masses of coal separated by aplurality of cari vbonizable but non-colring fillers, sl'ibjecting inthe'coal charge, subjecting the 'charge to j heat to cause carbonizat-ionof the coal and .,llers, whereby the heated gases' released from thecoal,v may penetrate the body of the coal and escape through the ventsproduced by the carbonization of the connected fillers.

3. A` process'for coking coal, comprising charging a colring oven withdiscrete masses of coal separated by a` plurality of car'- lhonizablebut non-Coking yfillers arranged longitudinally and transversely in.thecoal charge, subjecting the contents of the coking oven to suflicientheat toy carbonize the coal and fillers whereby the released gases maypermeate the body 'of coal and passy through the vents produced by thelcarbonization and disintegration of the fillers.

4. Apr/ocess for'coking coal, comprising charging a closed retort withdiscrete masses of coal separated by a plurality of passages filled witha carboniz'able but substantially non-coking material, subjecting thecontents of the closed retort to sufiicient external heat t...carbo nizethe coal and carbonizable material whereby the released gases and vaporsmay permeate the coal body through the passages formed by thecarbonization oiffthe carbonizable materials.

HARRY H. CULMER.

